#Earthdivers Vol. 1: Kill Columbus

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Earthdivers Vol. 1: Kill Columbus

Writer: Stephen Graham JonesArtist: Davide GianfeliceColorist: Joana LaFuenteLetterer: Steve WandsPublisher: IDW PublishingReleased: September 19, 2023Received: NetGalley Find it on Goodreads | IDW Summary: The world is falling apart – just like we were warned about. Humanity has long given up hope of saving the planet. Those with the means have fled, leaving those without to deal with the…

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: April 2024

oh my god you guys I've read SO MUCH this month!!! I got BIG into reread N.K. Jemisin's tremendous Broken Earth trilogy and it's been jaw-dropping, and I have been reading a HEAP of comics and manga a

on the extremely off chance there's anyone following me who doesn't think comics, manga, graphic novels, etc don't count as "real reading" lmao lol get out of here??? you're on the Reading 1000s of Pages of Old Batman Comics blog. go feel the whimsy of reading a whole graphic novel in one afternoon and maybe you'll calm down.

ANYWAY!!! what have we been reading?

Earthdivers Vol. 1: Kill Columbus (Stephen Graham Jones, Davide Gianfelice, Joana Lafuente, 2023) - Stephen Graham Jones is one of my all-time favorite authors, and I was super excited to check out his first comic series. Earthdivers takes place in the wasteland of the 22nd century, where four Native survivors have hatched a plan to try to stop the disasters that are killing the world: use a time-travelling cave to send one of their number back in time to kill Columbus before he can launch the colonization of North America. it's a one-way trip, and the time traveler will have to be ruthless to achieve their goal. beyond the attention-grabbing hook of killing Columbus, this story dives (you see what I did there) deep into an exploration of what it means to sacrifice everything for a cause and find the will to be ruthless in pursuit of the greater good. I'm not 100% sure I tracked all of the twisting threads of time travel in this first volume, but the hook is compelling and Gianfelice's art is beautiful, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the series progress!

Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade, 2020) - at this point I've written 8000+ words about this book on my patreon and it's becoming difficult to figure out what else to say or how to say it briefly. this book ties itself up in knots with its contrivances and makes both of its protagonists look dumb in the process. I don't like either of these people but - spoiler alert! - I still think April can and should do better. Olivia Dade please call me I just want to talk.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 1-3 (Ryoko Kui, trans. Yen Press, 2017) - I don't need to explain Dungeon Meshi. surely you've seen the gifs of Dungeon Meshi. all that matters is that I fucking love Dungeon Meshi, this shit rules and it's going to be so hard to hold off on reading Volume 4 while I try to prioritize some other books first. this world is great, the characters are a delight and a joy, and the way that Kui is so fascinated by the food and biology and exploration of adventurer fantasy tropes in her world makes my brain go wheeeeeeeeee!!! I'm having so much fun.

The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin, 2015) - historically I've very seldom reread books, but I'm starting to think that I need to change my stance on that. revisiting the Fifth Season years after I first read it, with the time to really enjoy it and also the maturity and perspective to actually appreciate what Jemisin is cooking, has enhanced the experience immeasurably. a thing that really struck me this time was how artfully Jemisin depicts the way orogenes are conditioned and groomed from the jump to be subservient and scared and willing to settle for life at the margins of society; it's not something that I could totally understand the nuances of when I read this book fresh out of my first year of college. this novel and its sequels are so brilliantly devastating, I cannot say enough great things about them.

My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better (Nagata Kabi, trans. Jocelyne Allen 2022) - I did it, I'm officially caught up on all of Nagata's works that have been translated into English! and man, I'm still worried about her. the experience of reading My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness hasn't quite been replicated for me; I think that was a once in a lifetime event, although I've certainly found a lot that I relate to in Nagata's subsequent struggles to sort of out anxiety, independence, art, and figuring out what kind of relationships she event wants to have in her life. at this point I feel like I'm just reading the illustrated life updates from a friend I haven't seen in a long time who stresses me out because her life is a mess. which is still interesting! but god I hope something good happens to this woman soon.

The Obelisk Gate (N.K. Jemisin, 2016) - The Fifth Season is a book about the end of the world and of one woman's personal apocalypses that happened prior to that. its sequel, the Obelisk Gate, is a book that's extremely preoccupied with the tedium of figuring out how to run a halfway-functioning society in the midst of the apocalypse, which is genuinely fascinating stuff. and it's also a book about the fear and desperation and sheer levels of exhaustion that might drive someone to decide that, fuck it, maybe the world should end and we should be done with all of this, actually. it's also a book about devotion and dependence and destruction and devouring people you love in a VERY literal way, which it must be said is pretty sexy. the stuff that pops off between Essun and Hoa in this book makes me think of Octavia Butler in the best way; I think she would have adored them. I'm so excited to get to the final book and see how this all pays off, because the first time I read it I barely understood a single goddamn thing that was happening.

I Hate This Place Vol. 1-2 (Kyle Starks, Artyom Toplin, Lee Loughridge, 2022-2023) - a short and spooky comic series that wraps up in two tight little volumes. I have some gripes with the pacing, but it makes for a fun afternoon read. a mid-tier streaming service is going to adapt this into a live action series within a couple of years, mark my worms. personally I'm fancasting Mackenzie Davis as Gabby and Samira Wiley as Trudy.

[chadwickginther]

The December 2023 Reading List

Since one of my writing goals was to read more, I thought it would help to keep track of what I knocked off Mount Tsundoku. Here’s as good a place as any to post what I’ve read to keep me honest, and what my favourite reads were each month. Earthdivers Vol.1: Kill Columbus by Stephen Graham Jones, Davide Gianfelice, Joana Lafuente, Steve Wands Mark Dawson’s Beatrix Rose: Vigilante by Stephanie…

[love-my-self23333]

- A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt (essays/memoir) *fantastic read!*

- No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred by Klee Benally (Diné) *currently unavailable to order but will be re-printed as soon as possible (website linked below)*

- Talking to the Ground by Douglas Preston (obligatory not a native author if I’m remembering correctly, focuses on the Diné people)

- Send a Runner by Edison Eskeets and Jim Kristofic (commemorates The Long Walk)

- Code Talker by Chester Nez (WWII)

- The Scalpel and the Silver Bear by Lori Arviso Alvord (about the first Diné woman surgeon)

- Earthdivers, Vol 1: Kill Columbus by Stephen Graham Jones (graphic novel; fiction) *all of his fiction is great tbh; I adored My Heart is a Chainsaw*

- There, There by Tommy Orange (fiction)

- Dog Flowers by Daniel Geller (memoir)

- Mohawk Interrupts by Audra Simpson (a powerful philosophical critique of colonialism from an indigenous perspective)

- Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo (memoirs)

- The Fast Red Road by Stephen Graham Jones (like Blood Meridian meets Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas!)

If anyone has any other books from Native authors they'd like to recommend, particularly nonfiction books, I'd love to hear them.

[clinchcoverenthusiast]

Despite a couple early DNFs, I managed to read ten books from my potential spooky season reads list. Favorites for October were What Moves the Dead, The Gilda Stories, The World Wasn't Ready for You, Charge, and A House with Good Bones. I bought I'll Come Back for You and Hearts to Mend and got The Lover free through Amazon First Reads. Everything else was from either Hoopla or Libby.  

The Perfection of Theresa Watkins - Justin C. Key* **

Hearts to Mend - Christina Berry* **

What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier #1) - T. Kingfisher

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke - Eric LaRocca

Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey

Body Work - Melissa Febos

The Gilda Stories - Jewelle Gomez* **

The Pallbearers Club - Paul Tremblay

Lone Women - Victor LaValle* **

Earthdivers Vol. 1: Kill Columbus - Stephen Graham Jones* **

Tell Me I'm Worthless - Alison Rumfitt

The World Wasn't Ready for You: Stories - Justin C. Key* **

A House with Good Bones - T. Kingfisher

Weather Girl - Rachel Lynn Solomon

The Lover - Silvia Moreno-Garcia*

Charge (Steel Bones Motorcycle Club #1) - Cate C. Wells

The Keeper - Tananarive Due, Stephen Barnes* **

I'll Come Back for You - Charish Reid* **

* = author(s) of color

** = main character(s) of color

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Preview: Earthdivers Vol. 1 Kill Columbus

Earthdivers Vol. 1 Kill Columbus preview. A group of Indigenous outcasts have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert and figured out where everything took a turn for the worst: America #comics #comicbooks